Condensate evacuation system for portable monoblock air conditioner

ABSTRACT

A portable, monoblock air conditioner including an evaporator and a condenser, a drain pan for collecting water condensate that has condensed from the evaporator, a hot air exhaust hose for evacuating warm air to an outside environment, a water tube in fluid communication with the drain pan, the water tube running through the hot air exhaust hose, and an atomizer at a distal end of the water tube adapted for atomizing water exiting the water tube which exits together with hot air exiting the hot air exhaust hose.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to portable, monoblock airconditioners, and particularly to an automatic condensate evacuationsystem of excess water for such an air conditioner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the art of air conditioning, one well-known device is the monoblock(or as it is commonly spelled in Europe “monobloc”). The monoblock airconditioner is a single packaged mobile or portable air conditioner (theterms “mobile” and “portable” being used interchangeably). A typicalmonoblock air conditioner is a one piece unit with a flexible dischargehose, and does not have a remote condenser.

As is well known in the art, air conditioners typically include anevaporator and condenser. The evaporator provides cooling by evaporatinga refrigerant from a liquid to a gas, which causes heat within the roomair to be transferred to the refrigerant. The heated refrigerant iscondensed in the condenser, wherein the heat absorbed by the refrigerantis rejected or transferred to some other medium, such as forced air. Inmost normal air conditioners, the condenser is cooled by the outdoorsair and/or a fan. In a portable monoblock one-ducted air conditioner,the condenser is typically cooled by air which has been sucked from theair conditioned room. This warmed air is typically evacuated by aflexible hose to the outdoors.

In one-ducted monoblock air conditioners, excess water condensateaccumulates in a drain pan or bottom tray, and is recirculated over thehot condenser and evaporates. However, in particularly humidenvironments, water may not drain and evaporate at a sufficient ratefrom the unit, which may result in too much water condensateaccumulating in the drain pan. This water must be manually evacuated ordrained by the user, which may be a nuisance if it needs to be done toooften.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an automatic condensateevacuation system of excess water for a portable monoblock airconditioner, as is described more in detail hereinbelow.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention a portable, monoblock air conditioner including an evaporatorand a condenser, a drain pan for collecting water condensate that hascondensed from the evaporator, a hot air exhaust hose for evacuatingwarm air to an outside environment, a water tube in fluid communicationwith the drain pan, the water tube running through the hot air exhausthose, and an atomizer at a distal end of the water tube adapted foratomizing water exiting the water tube which exits together with hot airexiting the hot air exhaust hose.

The air conditioner may further include a pump in fluid communicationwith the water tube for pumping condensate from the drain pan into thewater tube. A safety switch may be disposed near the drain pan, which isoperative to switch on the pump when the condensate has accumulatedabove a predefined level.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the watertube is connected to a quick connector mounted on the hot air exhaustpipe.

An adapter may be affixed to an end of the hot air hose and configuredfor placement in a window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a portable, monoblockair conditioner, constructed and operative in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a hot air exhaust hose,water tube and atomizer of the air conditioner of FIG. 1, constructedand operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates a portable, monoblockair conditioner 10, constructed and operative in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Air conditioner 10 may beone-ducted.

As is typical and well known in the art for portable monoblock airconditioners, air conditioner 10 has an evaporator 11 and a condenser12, which may be cooled by air which has been sucked from the airconditioned room. The warmed air may be evacuated by a flexible hot airhose 14 to the outdoors. The flexible hot air hose 14 may be connectedto a hot air exhaust pipe 16, typically at the back of the unit. Anadapter 18 may be affixed to the end of the hot air hose 14, the adapter18 being configured for placement in a window, for example. Excess watercondensate that has condensed from the evaporator 11 may accumulate in adrain pan 20 at the bottom of the unit.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a condensateevacuation system may be provided that includes a circulation pump 22operative to pump condensate into a water tube 24 from the drain pan 20.A safety switch 26, e.g., a safety overflow microswitch, may be disposedin the unit near drain pan 20 to switch on the pump 22 when thecondensate has accumulated above a predefined level. It is noted thatwhen safety switch 26 turns the pump 22 on, the compressor of the airconditioner may turn off, but any fans may keep running.

Reference is now made additionally to FIG. 2. Water tube 24 may beflexible and spiral, for example. The portion of water tube 24 from thedrain pan 20 may be connected to a quick connector 28 mounted on thewall of exhaust pipe 16. The quick connector 28 may include male andfemale connectors, one of which is mounted on the wall of the exhaustpipe 16 and the other connected to the rest of the length of the watertube 24 which runs through the length of exhaust hose 14. An atomizer 32may be mounted at the far (distal) end of water tube 24 near adapter 18.Any water condensate exiting the water tube 24 is atomized by theatomizer 32 together with the hot air from hot air pipe 16 into a mistor tiny water drops.

Assembling the flexible hose 14 is easy and convenient. The flexiblewater tube 24 may be supplied by the manufacturer in the flexible hotair exhaust hose 14. The end user simply takes out the water tube 24from the flexible hose 14 (as much as necessary) and connects the quickconnector half at the end of the water tube 24 to the other quickconnector half mounted on the wall of exhaust tube 16. This effectsfluid connection to the water tube 24 on the opposite side of the airoutlet tube 16, which is fluidly connected to pump 22. The flexible hotair exhaust hose 14 is then snugly slipped over the hot air exhaust pipe16 (or otherwise connected thereto) and unfolded to the desired length.The end of the hose 14 (the adapter end) may then be placed in a window.

The present invention may have the following advantages, withoutlimitation:

1. There is no need for a special outlet to the outdoor environment.Instead, the flexible water tube leading the water to the “atomizing”point is located inside the hot air hose.

2. The tiny atomized drops are evacuated out through the window by theflow of hot air coming out of the hose.

3. Most of the tiny water drops may be evaporated in the hot air flowand disappear visually as vapors.

4. The extendable (perhaps flexible and spiral) water tube folds andunfolds together with the flexible hot air hose.

5. The detachable (perhaps flexible and spiral) water tube is connectedto the main unit in the air outlet by a quick connector connection. Thequick connector ensures that whenever the tube has not been connected,or was not connected properly or got loose, water cannot come out of theunit, avoiding the risk of water spilling to the indoors.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the presentinvention is not limited by what has been particularly shown anddescribed hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present inventionincludes both combinations and subcombinations of the features describedhereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which wouldoccur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoingdescription and which are not in the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable, monoblock air conditioner comprising:an evaporator and a condenser; a drain pan for collecting watercondensate that has condensed from said evaporator; a hot air exhausthose for evacuating warm air to an outside environment; a water tube influid communication with said drain pan, said water tube running throughsaid hot air exhaust hose; and an atomizer at a distal end of said watertube adapted for atomizing water exiting said water tube which exitstogether with hot air exiting said hot air exhaust hose.
 2. Theportable, monoblock air conditioner according to claim 1, furthercomprising a pump in fluid communication with said water tube forpumping condensate from said drain pan into said water tube.
 3. Theportable, monoblock air conditioner according to claim 2, furthercomprising a safety switch disposed near said drain pan and operative toswitch on said pump when the condensate has accumulated above apredefined level.
 4. The portable, monoblock air conditioner accordingto claim 1, wherein said hot air exhaust hose is connected to a hot airexhaust pipe.
 5. The portable, monoblock air conditioner according toclaim 4, wherein said water tube is connected to a quick connectormounted on said hot air exhaust pipe.
 6. The portable, monoblock airconditioner according to claim 1, further comprising an adapter affixedto an end of said hot air hose and configured for placement in a window.7. The portable, monoblock air conditioner according to claim 1, whereinsaid air conditioner comprises a one-ducted air conditioner.